The news that Colin Campbell, former president and CEO of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation for 14 years, had passed away at the age of 88 is reverberating nationwide.
For a good reason.
In the words of Cliff Fleet, the current president and CEO of the foundation, “Colin’s steady hands made an indelible imprint on Colonial Williamsburg, ensuring its survival as a national treasure and charting a course focused on preservation, education, and civic engagement that the institution is following today.”
Under Campbell’s leadership, the foundation raised $687 million from 1.7 million individual donors from 2000 to 2013. As a result, the Historic Area was enriched by several projects, including the reconstruction of Charlton’s Coffeehouse, the construction of Anderson’s Blacksmith Shop and Public Armoury and the construction of the Market House.
In his retirement, Campbell worked to fund a 65,000-square-foot expansion of the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg. But it was not only the enhanced physical landscape that Campbell left behind.
According to Carly Florina, chair of Colonial Williamsburg’s Board of Trustees, Campbell also oversaw the expansion of programs focusing on periods that led up to and during the American Revolution.
Campbell’s accomplishments as president and CEO of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation are well known. What is less well known is the record of Campbell’s professional career before CW.
I was introduced to Campbell by Bill O’Donovan, former publisher and editor of The Virginia Gazette. During the ensuing years our friendship deepened, and Colin shared with me memories on episodes that left a lasting mark on him.
One of those events was his involvement in the development of Central European University in Budapest, Hungary.
Central European University was designed to serve as a key element in the establishment of “open societies” in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
George Soros, a Hungarian-born, naturalized U.S. citizen, accumulated a multibillion-dollar fortune through international investments. It was his idea to establish a network of foundations, first in Hungary, then in countries throughout Central and Eastern Europe, that would support institutions dedicated to building and maintaining the infrastructure of open societies.
One of the major institutions designated to contribute to the development of open societies in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union was Central European University. It was established in 1991 and financed by Soros.
The mission of Central European University was to serve “as an advanced center on research and policy analysis and facilitates academic dialogue while preparing graduates to serve the region’s next generation of leaders and scholars.”
Such an ambitious goal was easier to proclaim than to accomplish, because despite Soros’ financial support amounting to tens of millions of dollars, the academic credentials of the university remained questionable.
During an official visit to Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine, Campbell, then-president of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, was invited to join a river cruise with Soros.
When Soros met Campbell, he didn’t mince words: “I heard that you are critical of Central European University. What’s the problem?”
Campbell had a ready answer: “In my opinion, it is academic legitimacy. Central European University must have a faculty that has a voice and independence.” Then Campbell listed a few other needed changes.
“Soros listened but didn’t respond. It was the end of the conversation,” Campbell recalled.
A short time later, Campbell was invited by Soros to become a member of the board of trustees of the university. During Campbell’s tenure on the board, the university received Hungarian academic accreditation and absolute charter from the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York.
Campbell’s professional career before becoming president and CEO of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation took him around the world, meeting and dealing with statesmen like the president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel.
However, what Campbell was most fond of was reminiscing about the 2007 visit of Queen Elizabeth II to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown Settlement.
“During her stay in Williamsburg, Queen Elizabeth II took a carriage ride down Duke of Gloucester Street. My wife, Nancy, accompanied her,” Campbell told me with a chuckle. “I must say, during our many decades of marriage and my varied professional career, I never had to worry that Nancy would make a faux pas.”
Frank Shatz is a Williamsburg resident. He is the author of “Reports from a Distant Place,” the compilation of his selected columns. The book is available at the Bruton Parish Shop and on Amazon.com.
